After narrowing beam 3" what else is needed?

[Bugs]

Hey, Ive got a 74 Standard which Im finish restoring, and want to give a little german flare.

Ive spoke to VDubengineering about narrowing my beam and some brake options, and I know what I want in the end, but I am still a little confused on some stuff.

1st - If I have my beam narrowed 3 (1.5 each side) Do i need to do anything else to the body to allow the narrowed beam to fit? some have mentioned notching body work in the wheel well, which I dont want to get into. Is this needed? Or can i simply throw the freshly narrowed beam back in with no other adjustments needed?

2nd - im planning on doing my brakes in 2 stages. Stage one, have the front and rear factory drums studded for 5x100 so I can run new style VW wheels, and later on, conver the fronts to MKIV brakes. What Im worried about is clearance etc with my stock fenders. Car will be lowered with drop spindles as well as a tad more from the adjustable beam.

From what Lanner @ VDE was saying narrowing the front beam will allow me to run 205/40/17s with a ET38 wheel. Will my rears be ok with just the restudding, trimming bump stop and replacing the bolt on the spring plate with a flat top? or is some sort of narrowing required out back to make it all fit?

[Mikey]

I can address your first question from experiance. You won't be able to slide a 3" narrowed beam back in your car with out some kind of clearance.

I narrowed a beam on my Ghia 2". (1" each side) I didn't notch my inner fenders, just some gentle persuasion with a 15lb sledge. :laugh: People talk about notching the inner fender work because when you narrow a front beam the shock tower hits the inner fender.

Just to give you a visual of what I'm talking about, if your car still has the beam in it. Jack the car up, crawl under it and measure the shortest distance from the shock tower to the inner fender. If it's less than 1.5", you'll run into that much interferance when you narrow the beam, plus you'll want clearance so the body isn't resting right next to the beam.

As for the second question, I have little to no experiance with that. Good luck. :)

[SoCalGL]

willing cutting the body to fit the beam cause any kind of regidity problems?? it seems like a strong support piece

[flat]

From experience, you can do a 3" beam with just a little massaging of the inner fenders. I've done upto a 3-3/4" beam without cutting.

Lanner

[CLKWRK]

Howdy,

I have a 2" narrowed beam with avus adjusters off my ghia for sale 300 canadian bucks, I'll throw in the tie rods too. I can post some pics if youre interested.

Bry

[Bugs]

From experience, you can do a 3" beam with just a little massaging of the inner fenders. I've done upto a 3-3/4" beam without cutting.

Lanner

I will check with my bodyman this week. Im still determined to get this thing narrowed and on 17s :)

[Bruce2]

From experience, you can do a 3" beam with just a little massaging of the inner fenders. I've done upto a 3-3/4" beam without cutting.
What's the definition of "just a little massaging"?

I installed a 3 3/4" beam in my 75 and I had to beat the hell out of the body and the inner sides of the shock towers. Cutting would have been a lot easier.

Bugs, you will have to cut off the bumper supports that extend back towards the upper tube. These are found on 74-78 USA/Canada cars with the shock bumpers.

[Bugs]

What's the definition of "just a little massaging"?

I installed a 3 3/4" beam in my 75 and I had to beat the hell out of the body and the inner sides of the shock towers. Cutting would have been a lot easier.

Bugs, you will have to cut off the bumper supports that extend back towards the upper tube. These are found on 74-78 USA/Canada cars with the shock bumpers.

Good news is, i dont have the bumper supports to contend with currently, as i had to have the front end pretty much rebuilt with new metal.

Bad news is, the area which would need massaging isnt origional dimensions, so massaging wont work. Im gonna be cutting. Body man said 4 minutes and it would be done. So its going to be done just before the primer goes on. Easy-peasy.